


Concatenate

by cactuscreature



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Multi, Musical Instruments, Neighbors, Pining, Slow Burn, Songfic, Stalking, Sweet, Violinist Castiel, Violins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cactuscreature/pseuds/cactuscreature
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sam starts stalking their new neighbor, Dean decides to trail him to make sure he isn't getting into too much trouble. He meets Castiel and the creeping begins. Dean/Castiel Sam/Gabriel. <br/>Chapters 1-5 are older, 6 onward is recent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You're Lame, He's Weird

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so I posted this somewhere else but I'm going to start working on it again so here goes? The idea came from the Mystery Spot episode and the whole Sam tracking Gabe down stuff. But oh silly me I've got to have Dean/Castiel all over it. Sorry.
> 
> This story will have both Dean/Castiel and Same/Gabriel eventually. Hopefully. If all goes to plan. Which there isn't one. We'll see where is goes. And although it seems to focus on Sam and Gabe, I'm actually going to have more Dean and Cas stuff in this story.
> 
> This chapter is practically short, sorry about that.

Dean Winchester didn't consider himself the to be the stalking type. He didn't consider anyone in his family to bet the stalking type in fact. Yet here he was on a Wednesday night, stalking his own brother while said brother stalked an older man. What a weird world he lived in.

This wasn't supposed to be like this and he sure as hell didn't expect this of Sam. Sure he could be a little obsessive over things, but following someone home? This wasn't supposed to be happening.

It had all started when the new family moved in down the street. They were a big family for this part of town, from what Dean could tell there were at least four boys, a girl, and their father. The houses here were more suited for the average two point five kids and a dog kind of families, so that many people moving in had caught Dean's attention. Well, it caught pretty much the whole neighborhoods attention really.

The youngest siblings had soon started to attend the high school Sam and Dean did and Sam had taken immediately to one of the brothers, Gabriel. He was older, a senior, so Sam had been afraid to approach him. Dean just wrote it off as Sam idolizing the guy and paid little attention to it besides the occasional joke to poke fun at him. But soon it become apparent that Sam's little 'star-crush' was quickly turning into an obsession. He started following poor Gabriel to his classes and around the school, and eventually he followed him back to his house every day.

By then Dean had gotten worried, finally deciding to trail Sam and make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid. He didn't think he really had any other choice. So here he was, sitting down the street from the Novak family home, watching as his younger brother squatted in the bushes in the front yard.

This was crazy, he thought, he shouldn't even be here. Maybe he would just go to Sam now and tell him to cut the crap, get in the car and go home with him. This was just downright creepy!

Then again, Sam didn't look like he was doing any harm, maybe he'd just go home himself and get to bed. It was late anyways.

As Dean reached for his keys, about to start the engine and head back, he heard a tapping on his window that made him jump in his seat. He spun about, locating the source of the noise and groaned. Peering into his car was one of Gabriel's brothers, Chris? Maybe Charlie? He wasn't sure. Dean recognized him by the huge trench coat that he seemed to wear everyday. He was carrying two large paper bags, which made Dean assume he was coming home from the shopping when he noticed Dean there. He rapped his knuckles on the window again.

Dean sighed, rolling his window down to let the cool evening air into his car.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his voice dripping with disinterest.

"Dean Winchester?" Chris-or-Charlie-or-whatever-his-name-was asked.

"Yes?"

"Why would it be that your brother is sitting in my hedges while you watch him from here?" he said, tilting his head to the side.

Dean almost choked at the blatant question and gaped at the dark haired boy. He opened and closed his mouth, flustered and unable to come up with a believable excuse. After a moment he cleared his throat and answered,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Lame.

The boy just stared at him with his piercing blue eyes. Obviously he wasn't taking any bullshit.

"Okay look, my little brother is, um, trying to, make friends and I'm just watching out for him, okay?"

And that wasn't any better.

Novak just stood there, looking at him. If he was being honest, it was starting to make Dean uncomfortable. But he wasn't about to admit that and quietly stood his ground.

The other made a small "hmm" sound and muttered, "I see" under his breath. He struggled with his bags for a moment before extending a hand into Dean's car.

"I'm Castiel," he said without blinking.

"Uh, Dean." Dean replied, taking the hand uncertainly.

"I know." was all the raven haired boy said before straightening up and walking across the street and to his house.

Dean huffed and muttered "weird" under his breath before looking back over to where Sam was. His younger brother was standing up and getting ready to leave, so Dean started his car and drove home. All the while trying to shake off the strange feeling his encounter had given him.


	2. Can We Talk?

Dean had thought he'd gotten off with his strange encounter with Castiel scotch free. Sadly he'd been wrong. A week later, after pointedly ignoring the black haired boy, Castiel came up to him during lunch.

"I'd like you to know that your brother continues in his before mentioned activities.  
He said, his face blank of any expression.

Dean, who was unprepared for such a statement, balked once again at the other's blatantness. He sat, stunned, unbelieving that Castiel would approach him so openly. Dean didn't consider himself to be very popular, although he was in his way, but Castiel, being the new guy, certainly was not. It was strange for someone lower in the school's social class to approach someone higher up in the food chain. Yet this guy did it so easily. Dean couldn't close his gaping mouth.

Castiel stared unblinkingly at him awhile, seemingly waiting for a response. Dean wondered vagualy if it was normal for someone to go so long without blinking. The blue-eyed boy cleared his throat, and continued.

"I'd be very appreciative if you had a talk with him on the subject. It's beginning to make the occupants of the house very nervous."

"Ye-yeah okay sure." Dean replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Thank you." Castiel said simply before turning to rejoin his siblings at their own table.

"That was...weird." Lisa, Dean's current girlfriend commented. Her and a few of Dean's friends had been whispering beside him the whole while, not that Dean had really taken notice.

"Tell me about it." he huffed, shaking off the unease he'd just come to realize had taken hold of him when Castiel left. This new guy was starting to give him a weird feeling.

Dean caught up to Sam later that day on the football field. Castiel was right, he needed to confront Sam about his behavior.

Though it really wasn't like Dean to just go off and do whatever a stranger asked of him. He didn't even know this guy, but for some reason Dean found himself feeling compelled to do as he was being asked to. He didn't really know why. He found himself once again shaking off an uncomfortable feeling in light of the dark haired boy.

No matter, he'd deal with whatever that was later. Right now he needed to talk to Sam.

He walked up to Sam and his group of friends while they were sitting in the bleachers watching the cheer leading practice. Sam's girlfriend, Jessica, was on the team and he could usually be found in the audience of horny teenage boys trying to get a panty shot. Though Dean supposed Sam had the most right out of anyone to be there. Dean groaned when he followed Sam's gaze. He wasn't looking toward the field, but instead his eye's were locked on Gabriel, who was a few rows in front of them.

That cannot be a good sign...

"Hey can we talk for a second?" Dean said as he approached his younger brother. Sam looked surprised but nodded.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"No, not here. Like. In private." Dean clarified, gesturing to Sam's friends.

"Sure?" Sam said, standing and following Dean as he lead them below the bleachers.

Dean cleared his throat. He wasn't good at these, heart to heart talks. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Okay look," Dean said a little to quickly, "I know you think I haven't noticed this, but believe me, we've all noticed. And I know you don't want to hear this but it's getting really creepy and honestly it's downright unhealthy and think of Jess-"

"Whoa, whoa, Dean," Sam interrupted, "What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know. Come on Sammy a blind person could see-"

"Don't call me Sammy," Sam interrupted again, "And I really don't know."

Dean sized his brother up, trying to call bullshit on his little act, but found that his brother was being completely honest. Did he really not know? If he didn't, well, it was worse then Dean had originally believed.

"The whole, 'let's-follow-the-new-guy-home' routine. It's down right scary, Sam!" Dean half yelled.

"You- You think I'm stalking Gabriel?" Sam asked, dumbfound.

"Well aren't you? I mean it sure looks like that to me."

"I am not stalking Gabriel, Dean, I'm just.. I'm just trying to gain the confidence to go talk to him!" Sam said, sounding offended.

"Sitting outside his house every night is not trying to gain the confidence to talk to him. And if you don't think they've noticed, trust me they have. His brother even asked me to talk to you about this and-"

"Wait, his brother? Is that what this is about?" again Sam interrupted him.

" Well yeah. I mean if his own brother realized then-" Dean started.

"So you're doing this because some guy you don't even know asked you to?"

Dean paused at this.

"Well yeah but-"

"I'm not stalking him Dean. I can't believe you'd accuse me of something like that just because some stranger asked you to. I really can't believe it." Sam said angrily. He shoved past Dean and stalked off, back to the bleachers.

"Well yeah but-" Dean stammered.

"It's creepy! Ya creep!" he finished lamely, yelling.

And that is how Dean once again found himself sitting in his car, in the same place he had been a week ago, just down the street from where is brother was crouched in the Novak family's bushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry if there are a lot of mistakes. Wow.


	3. Something Not Right With Sam

If he was being completely honest with himself, he was probably just being the overprotective elder brother he was. Sam should be able to handle himself. Right?

But apparently, he couldn't. If he didn't know the difference between trying to get friendly attention and outright stalking, then something was seriously wrong. He would have trusted him with what he was doing, and he had started to, although it was a little freaky. But if Sam really didn't know he was being blatantly creepy, there was defiantly a problem. Dean couldn't just sit by while his brother did something stupid that he'd regret later. He had to make sure Sam's stalking didn't turn into an even worse problem.

Something like that, well, Dean didn't want to even imagine what that could be.

He was beginning to wonder what could even be going on in his brother's head.

Every night, he'd come home, practically a mess, twigs in his hair and mud on his jeans, claiming he'd been nowhere. But that shit didn't fly with Dean. He'd started trailing Sam every night since he'd confronted him. So Sam's "I was with Jess," or "Just went for a walk," excuses where never believed. Even their half brother, Adam, who was staying with them for the week but wasn't really home, noticed the absence of the brothers in the house.

On Saturday he confronted Dean, cornering him.

"Where are you two always going to every night?" he had asked, right as Dean walked in the door. Dean thought vaguely of a suspicious wife cornering her husband.

"What do you mean?" Dean countered dumbly.

"You and Sam. You always leave, one after another. And you always come home right before he does. What are you two sneaking off for?" he said and Dean could detect a hint of jealously in his voice. Oh so he's feeling left out, Dean thought.

"We just happen to go out at the same time, okay?" Dean said defensively. He didn't really fancy the idea of telling Adam he'd been following his brother around while he stalked people.

"Yeah, right, sure," Adam huffed, "And I suppose if I asked Sam the same thing he'd give me that same bullshit answer too right?"

"No don't!" Dean blurted before he could catch himself. He didn't want Sam to know he was following him around either.

Adam looked at him suspiciously, then realization began to dawn on his face. Dean stared at him, confused.

"Oh- you're sneaking around behind Sam's back. What the hell could you be doing that you can't tell him about?"

"What I'm not-" Dean started but stopped himself. Perfect cover.

"I'm seeing Lisa, okay?" he said, "Sam suddenly thought she wasn't any good for me, so I've been seeing her while he's not home." He peered at Adam hopefully.

"Don't ruin this for me, man." he added, trying his best to sound believable.

Adam seemed convinced. He nodded.

"It'll be our little secret."

Dean swore under his breath when as soon as Adam was out of earshot.

"Crisis averted." he mumbled, taking off his leather jacket and hanging it up.

The next evening he was again parked just down the street from his brother, his eyes locked on the bushes he knew Sam was hiding in. This was getting down right ridiculous, he thought. Absolutely stupidly so. Dean huffed, smacking the wheel of his Impala with frustration. At least this time he'd stopped to get a burger beforehand.

He picked up said burger and started chewing.

"Hello Dean." a low voice said fro next to him.

Dean jumped violently in his chair, choking on his bite of food. He spun around and was faced with deep blue eyes.

"Castiel?" he managed over a coughing fit.

"Yes." the boy in question said from his spot in the passengers seat.

"I didn't even here you get in. Wait! Why are you in my car?" he asked indignantly.

"Because I needed to speak with you." Castiel stated blandly.

"Dude, you can't just get into my car. That's not cool, man. Knock on the window at least!"

"I saw no point in such a thing. Now, may I speak with you?"

Dean stared at the raven haired boy. Was he, was he serious?

"Yeah okay, why not? Seeing as you're already in here-" Dean started.

"My point exactly." Castiel cut in. Dean grumbled something about always being interrupted lately and he continued, "I asked you to speak to your brother, yet he still proceeds to spend his evenings in my yard."

"Well he didn't listen to me, okay?" Dean retorted. Castiel simply looked at him for moment, turning his head to the side curiously. Dean pulled a face and waved a hand, signaling Castiel to continue.

"Gabriel himself hasn't noticed him, neither have Micheal or Lucifer, but Anna is growing uncomfortable and I think it would be best if you could make him refrain from his recent actions." the blue-eyed teen stated.

"Look I tried. He didn't listen." Dean huffed, taking another bite of his seemingly forgotten cheeseburger.

"You obviously did not put enough effort into your attempt to convince him to stop."

"I did put effort into!"

"Obviously not when your effort was put into following him around, instead of talking to him."

Dean gaped for a moment.

"I'm just making sure he's not doing something stupid!" he protested angrily.

"And what he's doing right now isn't stupid?"

"Shut up."

The car went silent for a moment before Castiel sighed and made his way to leave.

"Hey whoa, where are you going?" Dean asked, leaning out the passenger side window after Castiel shut the door.

"Home. Goodnight Dean."

And he left, walking back across the street and into his house.

For the second time that night, Dean hit his steering wheel, frustrated.


	4. You're The Tiger

Monday evening, Dean sat in his car in his normal spot, sipping on a milkshake he'd picked up on the way here from school. He could see Sam, who hadn't moved much from his hiding place, sitting cross legged in the dirt. His face was turned towards the left most window on the upper floor. Dean guessed this was probably Gabriel's room, whose else would it be? He sighed, sitting back in his seat. It was going to be just another night wasted by Sam watching.

All this sneaking about was really starting to take a toll on Dean. He was starting to fall even more behind in his school work then he was before and he hadn't been on a date with his girlfriend in weeks, not to mention the erratic sleeping pattern he'd begun to form. He tired to ignore these things and even though not having time for them was having negative effects on him, he didn't really mind. The only thing that really bothered him was how grouchy he was getting because of his lack of sleep. He supposed he could catch up on that over the weekend though.

All in all, watching over Sam wasn't too bad. He'd rather not have to do it but, since he felt like he had too, he could manage.

Sam moved to standing, rousing Dean from his thoughts. He started the car, finally he was going home. Just as he was about to pull away, the front door opened and a figure he couldn't quite see stepped out.

"What the-" Dean muttered, leaning over the dash to get a better look.

It took a moment of squinting to realize it was Castiel. He was looking right at Sam, who seemed to be having some sort of panic attack. Dean watched as the older teen walked right up to his brother. Sam looked ready to bolt in the opposite direction in a heartbeat, but he stayed put.

Dean cursed under his breath, turning his engine off in hopes of listening in to the conversation, but he couldn't hear them. He cursed again, leaning over the dash further, trying to see what was going on clearly.

Castiel was talking, but he didn't seem to be angry or anything like that. From what Dean could see, his face was pretty neutrally blank, like it seemed to always be. Sam on the other hand looked horror stricken. He seemed to be trying to talk furiously over Castiel. The whole conversation didn't last long and not minute or so after Castiel stopped talking, Sam started running back toward his house.

Dean kicked open the impalas door and walked over to Castiel, who seemed to be waiting for him, as though he knew he'd come over there. Dean stood right next to Castiel, glaring at him angerly.

"I suppose you're wondering why I decided to speak with him." Castiel said smoothly. He didn't turn to look at Dean.

"No, I'm wondering what the hell you think you're doing!" Dean said furiously. He hadn't liked the idea of Castiel confronting Sam and now that it had happened he liked it even less. It wasn't Castiel's place to question his brother. That was his place.

"I had told you before that if you did not deal with this I would. And I have." the blue eyed teen replied.

"What do you mean deal with this? What the hell did you say?"

"I simply told him his efforts where not welcomed and that he should move on. It wasn't healthy Dean, he needed to understand that."

"Needed to.. Chirst did you at least tell him nicely or did you just disregard his feelings completely?"

"I don't see what his feelings have to do with this." Castiel squinted a little at Dean.

"His feelings have everything to do with this! Castiel I'm going to rip out your lungs if you hurt him!" Dean practicality roared. He turned around and jogged back to his car, slamming the door angrily. He had to get home and check on Sam.

He swung the car around and raced home, leaving Castiel on the sidewalk pondering what had happened.

"Sam? Sam!" Dean took the stairs two at a time, bounding up them. He was sure Sam would be in his room. He stopped at Sam's door, knocking gingerly on the door.

"Sam? You okay in there?" he asked.

He waited but didn't hear an answer. Slowly, he opened the door.

Sam was sprawled out on his bed, his face buried in his pillows. His shoes where still on his feet and he hadn't done anything to remove the twigs from his hair or the dirt on his jeans. He wasn't crying though, which Dean took as a good sign.

"Hey Sammy, you alright?" Dean said as softly as he could. He approached Sam's bed and sat down on the edge.

"I. Feel. Like. Shit." came the muffled reply.

"Why's that? Girl got you down?" Dean asked, half joking.

Sam rolled over and sat up next to Dean.

"No, Jess is fine..it's just.." he started.

"Just what?"

"It's just.. I don't think Gabriel likes me at all. I don't think he's even noticed me."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I was going to go talk to him today, but his brother came out and told me my 'efforts are being wasted here' and that I should 'move on to better things' and stuff." Sam sighed, his face in his hands now.

"Well, what does that guy know anyways?" Dean said.

"You listened to him, didn't you? I mean.. I don't know maybe he's right Dean. Maybe I am wasting my time.." Sam rolled back unto his bed, groaning.

They sat there for a while in silence. Dean didn't know what to say. On on hand he didn't want to see Sam so broken down and upset, but on the other hand maybe he would stop following Gabriel around.

He sighed, patting Sam on the leg.

"Listen Sammy, maybe he's right but maybe he's not. Just do what you think is right. If you really want to be friends with this guy then, I don't know maybe you should talk to him?"

"But I can't."

"Sure you can. You just gotta try."

Sam mulled this over for a moment, then smiled.

"Okay. I'll try."

Dean smiled, patted Sam's leg again and stood up.

"Go get 'em tiger." He said before leaving the room.


	5. Smooth, Winchester, Smooth.

The second Dean got to school the next day he searched for Castiel. It took him most of the free time in the morning before school to find him and when he did Dean wasn't sure if he should thank him or punch him in the face. So he settled on what he knew best, yelling.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he half screamed, half whispered.

"I believe we already covered that question last night." the raven haired teen answered smoothly, turning around from his locker to face Dean.

"You have no right to tell Sam what he can and can't do! He's not your brother! I can deal with this on my own! Okay?" Dean replied, as if he didn't hear Castiel. The other boy took a moment of silence before he started to look confused.

"I did tell you I would deal with his stalking issues if you did not. You did not. So I took action. I do not understand the conflict here."

"The conflict is you made my brother feel terrible, that's what!"

"I still do not understand. There was a problem and I found a solution to it." Castiel turned his head slightly to the side, confusion still set in his features.

"You are not the solution, you idiot! He'll find his own way to deal with his problem, when he realises there is one.. Anyway it was never any of your business!"

"Why are you yelling?" Castiel suddenly asked. Dean stopped for a moment. He hadn't realised that his voice had been raised. He also didn't notice the people around them had started to stare. He cleared his throat.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Just leave my brother and his problems to me from now on, okay?"

Castiel stared him down for a moment before nodding and answering with is own 'okay'.

"Okay.." Dean said, nodding too.

"As long as we understand each other." Castiel said. He took a moment then added, "Did he take anything away from our talk?"

"Did he.. yes and it made him feel like shit. I won't fucking stand for that." Dean answered.

"Yes, I know." Castiel said just as the bell rang. Dean hitched his bag up.

"Well, good talk. Okay. Bye then."Dean said a little awkwardly.

"Yes, goodbye, Dean." Castiel agreed, shutting his locker and walking away to his first class.

Dean shook the feeling that started to tickle his spine. It seemed that every time he talked to the other teen he ended up feeling like someone was attacking him with a feather duster from beneath his skin. It was starting to weird him out more then he'd like to admit. He shrugged to himself and made his way to home room.

Dean drove up to the spot where he usually watched Sam, same as always, he didn't really expect anything different. Sam hadn't made an appearance yet and Dean wrote it off as him stopping to pee or something first. He slid a tape into his radio and leaned back in his chair, wishing he'd taken a moment to stop for a burger on his way here.

It had been almost two weeks since his talk with Castiel and he hadn't really seen much of the other teen since then. He half thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't had to talk to the blue eyed boy, but some part of him that he denied craved the weird goose pimply effect in his skin that the other's voice had on him. It was strange and new and he was actually a little afraid of it. He would never admit to that though, like he wouldn't admit to a lot of things these days.

Sam finally showed and took his place among the greenery. Somehow this new routine had faded to a comfortable task for Dean. Just like the routine of going to classes had after a few weeks at school. It was nice having some time alone just to think and do nothing in particular. It had become Dean's "me time", just like working on the Impala was. Just Dean and his thoughts. He sighed at this and reclined even further into his seat, getting really comfy. Taking a moment of privacy for himself, he relaxed and itched his inner thigh a little, feeling manly by the act somehow.

Then was the moment that Castiel choose to slip into the passenger seat next to him. Dean hadn't noticed him until he spoke.

"You seem comfortable tonight, Dean."

"HOLY-!" Dean yelped, "What the!"

"It's pleasant to see you too." Castiel commented.

Dean had all but jumped out of his seat and was now turned to face the intruder.

"What are you doing in my car? Again!" Dean almost yelled.

"You said that I could not be the solution to Sam's problem, yet I seem to be unable to leave the matter alone. Therefore, I have decided to accompany you in watching over him. This way I can assure no harm comes to my brother, meanwhile putting Anna's mind at rest." Castiel replied, sounding the tiniest bit proud of himself for coming up with what he seemed to think was an amazing idea.

"Well if you wouldn't mind, tell me next time you make one of these decisions, alight Chuckles?" Dean groaned. "There's no point in asking you to change your mind about this, is there?"

"No, there is not." Castiel said smoothly.

Dean groaned again, settling back into a comfortable position. This was going to be a long night.

It was strange how easily it was for Dean to adjust to having Castiel in the car with him. At first he'd felt extremely annoyed, but after a while, he decided to just ignore the other teen completely. It wasn't hard, the guy didn't seem to be the talking type and kept to himself. Every now and then Dean stole a glance of the Castiel, who's gaze was locked on Sam the entire time.

Now that he had a chance to look at the guy, Dean realized how down right wrong he looked. His eyes were a little too blue, they were intense and electric and fierce and they made Dean's crawl in an almost pleasant way. His hair tousled in a way that looked natural at first but somehow couldn't be possible. How did it manage to tuff out in just the right way? If Dean thought the trench coat had been weird, then the cloths underneath were a rainbow in a black and white film. How many white button ups and dress slacks did this guy own anyway? Now that he thought about it, everything about this guy was just off.

But he couldn't stop from glancing over at him every chance he could. He felt like he was looking at a horrible accident and he just couldn't look away. Something was just so alluring about him. Looking at him was starting to make Dean's breath feel constricted and he shifted slightly in his seat, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with himself.

He didn't realize how long he'd been watching Castiel until he spoke.

"Dean, is there something on your mind?"

"Huh?" Dean grunted, not catching the question entirely.

"You've been staring at me for the last ten minutes." Castiel said blankly.

"I, what?" Dean sputtered, "What, no."

"Then what are you looking at?""

"There was, uh, this weird cat outside your window." He lied quickly. "Really fucking strange ass cat..."

Castiel stared at him a moment before humming and returning to look towards Sam. Dean couldn't really tell if he believed him or not, but he prayed he had. He groaned inwardly and looked back towards Sam as well.

Smooth, Winchester, he thought. Really smooth.


	6. Lunch Time Rumble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got inspired to keep working on this recently... I forgot how much I wanted to do with it, honestly. Its nice to do something that isn't a coping piece for once, haha. It's been awhile since I've written anything spn related and even longer since I've watched it, so I apologize if they seem ooc or anything...   
> As always, excuse my mistakes, I don't usually have time to edit these things.
> 
> MrSylar, this one's for you- stick around cause there's more to come. <3 Sorry these chapters are gonna be kinda short though. ):

                Dean was sitting with his arm around Lisa at lunch the next day, laughing with their friends when he noticed Jessica storming over to the table that Sam was sitting at. His attention was drawn to her almost immediately and he tuned out of the conversation he’d been in moments ago, listening intently to what was happening a few tables away from his. She strode up to him, chest puffed out and arms crossed. Sam didn’t notice her at first, his gaze still trained on the tawny haired boy across the cafeteria. She cleared her throat loudly and he startled, turning to look at her questioningly.

                “I can’t believe you! You’re still doing it, even though I’m right in front of you!” She practically yelled, her voice loud enough to carry across the room. Dean raised an eyebrow as he watched Sam sputter something that he couldn’t hear. “Don’t start that shit with me, you ass! You’ve been ignoring me for over a month! You don’t return my texts! You don’t call me back! You can’t even take the time out of your day to even come see me! What in the world could be more important than talking to your own girlfriend?”

                “I’ve just been busy-“ Sam started to say, his voice wavering as he began to panic a little. The bystanders near them had started to stare and a hush fell over the entire cafeteria as everyone nearby strained to find out what all the ruckus was about.

                “Don’t try to bullshit me!” She said shrilly, “I don’t want to hear it! If you’re too busy to talk to your own girlfriend, then you might as well not even have one anymore. We’re through, Sam! Lose my number.”

                She left without another word, a couple of her friends from the cheer squad swarming around her and congratulating her for putting him in his rightful place. Dean looked back to Sam, who was sitting, awestruck and unmoving, staring after her. He glanced around the room after a moment, realizing that the entire student body was staring now. Dean saw his gaze slide back over to Gabriel, who had his eyebrows raised in alarm and was whispering something to one of his brothers. Sam flushed deeply and stood very suddenly, his chair clattering behind him to the floor. He turned on his heel to leave the dining hall at a quick paced walk, his expression tight. Dean made a move to stand, but Lisa held him back.

                “Leave him be, Dean.” She said quietly, already knowing what he was thinking.

                “But-“

                “I know you just want to protect him, but he probably just wants to be alone right now. That was embarrassing enough without you making a big stink out of it.” She said kindly, patting him on the shoulder as he sat down again. “You’ll see him at home. You can talk to him then.”

                “Okay… Yeah, okay. You’re right.” Dean muttered. He glanced up at the table Gabriel was sitting at. He was chatting away with his siblings, completely unaffected. It made Dean feel a little bit angry. That guy didn’t even know he was the reason that Sam hadn’t been talking to Jess as much lately. It was his fault that Sam was being so weird. What was so special about him anyways? He caught himself furrowing his brow, suddenly pissed off at Gabriel even though he knew he had no right to be. He met eyes with Castiel as he scanned the table one last time, his skin prickling uncomfortably under the boy’s intense blue gaze. Castiel raised a single eyebrow at him, his eyes shifting to his brother for a moment before locking back onto Dean’s. Anger prickled up inside Dean again. He shook it off and turned back to his lunch only to pick at it with mild disinterest. He didn’t want to meet Castiel’s eyes again, so he pointedly avoided looking over at that side of the room for the rest of the period. When the bell rang, he made up some excuse to Lisa and bolted to his classes.

                After the last bell rang that day, Dean found himself rounding on Castiel outside the shorter boy’s locker.

                “What the hell was that look at lunch, Chuckles?” He asked, slamming the door to Castiel’s locker closed in his face.

                 

                “Hello, Dean.” Castiel said dryly. “Nice to see you as well.”

                “Don’t get snarky with me. Answer the question.”

                “Answer this first,” Castiel said, turning to look at him firmly. “Why did you glare at us? Did you think that what happened with Sam and his girlfriend was somehow my brother’s fault? Did you plan on yelling at him too? After you yelled at me?”

                “I- what? No-“ Dean started, suddenly all his anger vanishing under the scrutiny of the black haired boy.

                “Don’t lie to me.” Castiel said, his voice growing a little steelier than it normally was. “Your intentions are written very plainly on your face, Dean.”

                “Okay, okay, fine! I was going to yell at him next, okay?” He huffed angrily, “Why is he so dense? Why can’t he just talk to Sam and get all this shit over with? He can’t seriously have not noticed it by now.”

                “I think he has, actually.” Castiel replied. When he didn’t elaborate, Dean pressed closer to him, leaning on the lockers.

                “What the hell does that mean?”

                “I think he has noticed. He said something that I found very odd today at lunch after that…incident.” Castiel said, shifting one his feet and moving slightly away from Dean as the taller boy invading his breathing room.

                “And what was that, exactly?” Dean asked, leaning in to Castiel even closer unconsciously.

                “He made a strange and rather vague comment about how she did not deserve him and couldn’t see what she was going to lose.” Castiel recalled, but seemed unsure of himself. “I do not know what would bring him to say something like that, if I am being completely honest.”

                “Are you ever not completely honest?”

                “No.”

                “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, what do you think that even means? Is he just toying with Sam then?” Dean asked, feeling more and more agitated with Gabriel by the minute. He thought for a moment before continuing, “But he’s wrong. I mean, Sam kinda deserved that after the way he’s treated Jess lately. I don’t even blame her.”

                “I do not blame her either. That is why his comment caused me great confusion.” Castiel replied, “But as I said before, I do not know why he would say something like that. My brother is… very strange. He has his own agenda and can be a little mischievous as times. I have not the slightest clue as to what his intentions are.”

                “Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better at all.” Dean said, annoyed that this conversation seemed to be leading him nowhere. “Can’t you ask him about it?”

                “I doubt that he would give me a straight answer even if I did.”

                “So what then? We just let this keep going on like this?” Dean asked, agitation leaking into his tone.

                “No, I think that-“ Castiel began, but quickly stopped when he noticed two of his older brothers approaching them. “I will explain it to you later tonight. I assume you will be posted outside my home as usual?”

                “Probably?” Dean said, confused.

                “We can finish this discussion later.” He said, ducking underneath Dean’s arm and leaving to join his brothers as they walked down the hall towards the doors. “Until then.”

                Dean was left staring after him, more confused than he could ever remember being. He watched as the tallest of the three ruffled Castiel’s hair, who simply glared at him but made no attempt to fix the mess that it had become. Castiel was a strange kid, that was for sure. Dean couldn’t help but feel intrigued by him, but he couldn’t put his finger on why he felt that way. He shuffled his feet a little and turned around to head the opposite direction. He promised Lisa he’d take her out today, he didn’t want the same thing that happened with Jess and Sam to happen to his own relationship just because he was looking out for his kid brother. Sam and his after school stalking activates would have to wait.


	7. You're Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to put some music into this cause im a sucker when inspired by my dumb playlists. see the end for a link to the mentioned song.

                After his dinner date, Dean pulled up into the street down from Castiel’s house. He sat there for a few moments before realizing Sam wasn’t in the bushes today like he usually was. Dean glanced around, making sure he wasn’t just somewhere else. He frowned, turning off his car and swinging the door open. He half jogged over to the door and rang the bell, he looked around in the bushes again, ducking a little to get a better view underneath them. A short, red haired girl opened the door as he did, so he quickly straightened up and addressed her.

                “Uh, hey,” He started clearing his throat when his voice came out awkwardly gruff, “Is Cas here?”

                “Cas?” She asked, eyeing him suspiciously. He smiled at her, hoping he didn’t seem too awkward.

                “Yeah, your brother?” He clarified, she just stared at him for a moment before walking back into the house, leaving the door open. He looked after her, stepping uncertainly across the threshold.

                “Castiel, someone’s here to see you.” She said into a room to the left down the hall. Dean almost tripped over a neat arrangement of shoes by the door, catching himself on the wall and glancing back up at the girl. She smiled at him, eyes full of silent laughter and Dean blushed a little. She mouthed at him, “Smooth.”

                Dean ignored her and removed his shoes, shucking them in a heap by the door and turned to fix the one’s he’d messed up before shuffling down the hall in his socks. He stopped at a wide archway leading into the living room. There was a huge window on one side of the room and large French doors leading to the porch on the other side. Dean couldn’t believe their house was so huge on the inside. He thought all the houses were the same as his, dinky 2 bedroom places with narrow halls. He’d been totally wrong this whole time. He scanned the room. There was a white L-shaped couch on one side, a large white marble table, and a row of bookshelves lining the wall facing it where Dean would have guessed a TV should go. There were more shelves around the room, and a smaller sitting area with white recliners and small coffee tables. Everything was accented with underwhelming gold and faded sky blue. There were replications of classical art on the wall and even a couple of miniature Greek looking statues. The room wasn’t as clean as Dean thought a place this nice would be, though. There were newspapers scattered on the tables and empty coffee mugs in strange places. A couple of books where piled near the chairs like someone had been discarding them but was too lazy to return them to the shelves. The other corner of the room near the windows, though, was spotless. There were musical instruments lined up in cases near a large, stark white piano and sheet music stands stood neatly along the edge of the glass. Dean spotted Castiel bowed over one of the cases, apparently putting something away. The boy wasn’t wearing his usual coat, but instead had a cardigan overtop of his white dress shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he had slippers on his feet. Dean felt a strange feeling prickle up inside him. He’d never seen Castiel in anything but his standard coat and jacket. He wondered vaguely why that was as he crossed the room over to him. He leaned on the edge of the piano.

                “Weren’t we supposed to meet?” Dean asked, trying to act casual, “What are you doing in here?”

                “Practicing.” Castiel replied simply, “You were late and Sam never showed. I decided to pass the time doing something productive.”

                “Sorry about that. I had something to do after school.” Dean glanced away, ducking his head.

                “It is alright.” The raven-haired boy said, not bothering to look at him as he stowed a bow into the case as well.     

                “I didn’t know you played.” Dean said, smiling down at him again. Castiel snapped the case shut suddenly, looking away. Dean could see the slightest hint of a blush crawl across his cheeks. It made his heart jump a little and he stumbled to continue the conversation. “What kind of instrument is that?”

                “Violin.” Castiel said, rather quietly. He propped the case up in its stand and finally turned to Dean. “I am not very good, though.”

                “I bet you’re awesome.” Dean felt his smile widen despite himself, “I always wanted to play something but I was terrible at it.”

                “It only takes time and patience to become good.” Castiel said evenly, “What did you play?”

                “I had an electric guitar.” Dean laughed, “I was awful. I think I might still have it, but I haven’t touched it in years.”

                “That is a shame.” Castiel frowned. Dean shrugged and neither of them spoke for a moment.

                “So, uh, what did you wanna talk about?” Dean asked suddenly, breaking the silence stretching between them.

                “About Gabriel.” Castiel said.

                “What about him?”

                “I don’t think he’s nearly as clueless as he’s letting on.” Castiel confessed, “I am even more sure of this now that we’ve come home.”             

                “Why’s that?”

                “He’s been... moping to put it lightly.”

                “Moping?” Dean asked, his eyebrow shooting up curiously.

                “To say the least, yes.” Castiel said very seriously. His eyes narrowed on the hallway before he continued. “He started after he realized Sam wasn’t going to show up, I believe. It was around the same time I realized it myself.”

                “So, what are you saying?” Dean asked, confused, “That he wants my brother to stalk him?”

                “Perhaps.” Castiel replied, “It is not unlike him. He adores attention.”

                “Great. He’s not going to step in and end Sam’s poor suffering, is he?” Dean groaned, rubbing the inner corners of his eyes, a headache starting to bloom behind them.

                “Most likely he will not.” Castiel said, “Do you think he will convinced to stop now that he has had to face the consequences?”

                “Sam’s too stubborn for that.” Dean sighed, “He’ll probably be back at it again tomorrow. What’s Sam even see in that buffoon anyways?”

                “My brother may be a little troublesome but he has a good heart.” Castiel tried to assure him. Dean didn’t really feel that way, though. Not with how he was toying with Sam. Dean didn’t really think what Sam was doing was right either- but at least he wasn’t stringing someone along. Sort of. Dean’s headache threatened to blossom.

                “If you say so.” He grumbled. He looked up at Castiel again. “What do we do about it, then? Discourage them? Sabotage?”

                “I’m not sure that is the correct route, no.” Castiel admitted, “I think that they are both being foolish, but I do not wish to see either of them get hurt either.”

                “At least we agree on that.” Dean said, “So what can we do?”

                “Well-“ Castiel started but he was cut off by a voice coming from the archway.

                “Castiel!” An older man said sternly. Dean jumped in surprise, sliding off the piano and almost falling on his face as a result. He couldn’t seem to catch a break today. He tried not to blush when Castiel glanced at him, smiling sheepishly.

                “Yes, Michael?” He answered as he turned to the man. This must be one of the older brothers who didn’t go to their school.

                “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing?” He asked, giving Dean a disapproving stare.

                “Yes, but-“

                “Then get to it. You only have a few weeks left, use your time wisely.” He left without giving the younger boy time to reply. He turned to Dean, face downcast and expression apologetic.

                “Sorry, I have to get back to work.” He said, moving back over to his stand. “We can talk more tomorrow.”

                “That’s alright. Did you want me to leave?” Dean asked, “I’d love to stay and hear you play.”

                “No, that’s…” Castiel blushed again, this time it reached the tips of his ears. Dean felt his heart give out for a moment and tried to push the feeling out of his mind, “I am still struggling with this piece. I would rather not embarrass myself.”

                “I promise you I won’t laugh.” Dean assured him. He stood awkwardly for a moment before taking the violin from its case and resting it under his chin. He picked up the bow as well, his cheeks red as he stooped to avoid Dean’s gaze.

                “Promise?” Castiel asked when the bow was hovering just above the strings.

                “Cross my heart.” Dean said, regretting it when it came out a little cheesier than he meant. Castiel smiled. He closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and drug his bow across the strings slowly.

                Dean was caught, awestruck, at the song that Castiel started to play. It was slow, mournful and sad. He felt himself growing entangled in the sonder notes, feeling like he’d lost something important to him. He stayed silent and still as he listened. He watched carefully as Castiel’s face changed ever so slightly in reflection of the song, pain etched subtly into his features and carving out a hidden beauty that Dean had never seen in him before. His stomach fluttered steadily as Castiel played, his song drawing on for a few minutes before he hit a bit of a sour note and stopped abruptly.

                “Why’d you stop?” Dean asked, coming out of his daze.

                “I missed it.” Castiel replied, sighing and raising his bow again. He started over from the beginning and Dean reveled in listening to him again. He kept playing until he messed up again a few minutes later at the same part before he started over again. Dean decided to sit on the piano bench after a while, his elbow propped up under his chin, his eyes shut as he let the flow of the violin overtake his mind. He never felt more relaxed than he did right now and he sighed happily at one point. He missed the glance Castiel shot at him. Dean listened to Castiel practice over and over until suddenly he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. The ringtone broke the spell Castiel’s playing had cast on the room. Dean apologized and flipped it open as while Castiel took a break stretching his arms a little.

                “Sup?” Dean said into his phone. He hadn’t bothered to check the caller ID.

                “Dean?” Sam’s voice came from the other end, he sounded like he’d been crying.

                “What’s the matter, Sammy?” Dean asked lightly.

                “Will you buy me a milkshake?” Same asked, sniffling, “I could use one right now.”

                ‘Buy me a milkshake’ was Sam code for ‘cheer me up’ and Dean couldn’t shake his brotherly obligations. He stood, glancing up at Castiel who was fiddling with his bow now. “And fries?”

                “And fries.” Sam said.

                “Okay, be right there, kiddo.” Dean replied, he snapped his phone closed. “Sorry. Duty calls.”

                “That’s alright. Thank you for your company.” Castiel said, shuffling a little on his feet.

                “Sure thing.” Dean smiled at him, “You’re really good, by the way. I don’t know why you’re so hard on yourself. I couldn’t do that in a million years.”

                “Thank you for saying so, but I have much more work to do.” Castiel said seriously.

                “Can I come listen to you practice again sometime?” Dean asked, surprising himself a little at his forwardness.

                “Feel free.” Castiel said, his cheeks still a little rosy.

                “Cool. See ya, Cas.” Dean said, relieved that hadn’t come out as awkward as he thought it did. He waved as he left the living room, Castiel’s sweet music flowing through the halls again and he stopped to listen to it for a moment longer as he put his tattered converse back on. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to keep listening to him play, it was almost intoxicating, he didn’t want to leave. But Sam was expecting him back and he reluctantly left through the front door. It took him only a few minutes to swing by his house and pick up his brother and a few more than that to drive to the local burger stop. They ate in the car, Dean only stealing a couple of Sam’s fries as Sam spilled his guts about Jessica. Dean tried to comfort him the best he could even though he was terrible with situation like this. Despite the fact that he’d met with Castiel to talk about Sam, now that he was with Sam, all Dean could think about was Castiel’s song. He caught himself humming it a little on their way home and even as he laid in bed that night, he couldn’t get it out of his head. He turned over, trying to ignore the tight feeling growing behind his ribs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/6KaYzgofHjc?t=7m22s  
> Just in case you wanna hear it. Lol


End file.
